Altair
by Thervan
Summary: Altair is a Fanalis who has a Djinn in his head, This complicates things when he has to try and live as a slave who must fight in the arena in Reim for a master who like money, and treats him well. Starting during Adventure of Sinbad, and continuing through the main story of Magi.
1. Chapter 1

A young male Fanalis sat in the hold of a slave ship with his knees dragged up to his face, it was the only way he could be comfortable in the overcrowded area. He was around the age of seventeen, his red hair was long enough to warrant a simple braid, as for clothing he wore what used to be a white tunic, but was now stained a tan color from not being washed for a few weeks. The other Fanalis that sat in the hold were either coughing, crying, or somehow sleeping.

" _What's wrong?_ " A voice asked the Fanalis, he was having trouble figuring out where it was from, it had felt like a whisper in his ear, but no one was close enough to him to do that. " _Why do you look upset?_ " The voice asked him, once again he looked around, none of the other Fanalis paid any attention to him, they had their own sorrows to deal with. " _Get a hold of yourself Altair, it's just your imagination._ " He thought to himself while shaking his head.

" _Altair? That's a very nice name._ " The voice said, this caught Altair off guard since he had said his name in his thoughts which meant that whoever was talking to him was in his head. " _Great, i'm going insane now._ " He thought to himself. " _Please, if you were going insane you would know, a voice in your head does not mean that._ " The voice said again, now that Altair was actively listening for it, he found that it was a woman's voice. " _Fine then, but can you tell me your name if you even have one?_ " Altair thought. The voice in his head seemed to laugh. " _You may call me Shiva, it's a pleasure to meet you._ " Shiva said to Altair, he was now able to feel a sense of mirth from the voice, it made him feel less depressed as well.

Altair woke up from his fitful rest when he heard the hatch above open and the sounds of boots walking down the stairs. " _Great, these guys again._ " Altair thought to himself and Shiva, who was just stirring from her own sleep. The two men who walked into the hold were wearing simple tunics and baggy leggings, they also carried short swords with them. Altair didn't know their names and he sure as hell didn't care, both men were assholes to the others in the hold. " _Who are those men Altair, in fact where are we?_ " Shiva asked from within Altair's head. " _Slavers._ " Altair thought with a flash of rage, if he could break the chains on his hands and legs he could kill them both.

Altair could feel Shiva's worry about the current situation, she understood what slaver's meant. " _Altair, if i lent you some power, would you be able to break free of those chains?_ " Shiva asked him, Altair suddenly felt more than just his own anger rising to the surface. " _Yes, but wait until we get a chance._ " Altair thought. The two men went around with water and bread to the Fanalis, but the rest were left alone, Altair knew that a Fanalis was worth more than a normal slave, the treatment was enough to tell him that.

The two guards finished their business in the hold and left, after the latch clicked shut Shiva spoke to Altair again. " _Why didn't you let me help you break free of those chains and kill them?_ " Altair noticed the scorn in Shiva's words, he thought for a moment about why he didn't " _If i broke these chains now, then i would be free on a ship that's far from a town._ " He finally said to her. Shiva was silent for a while before agreeing with Altair, their time would come and when it did all would be lost to a storm of frost.

 **A week later**

The ship finally stopped and Altair heard the sounds of people, today was the day that he and Shiva would finally break the bonds on his hands and legs. " _Now?_ " Shiva asked, just stirring in the depths of Altair's mind. Altair rubbed his eyes before responding to her. " _Wait until im away from the city, i don't want to even try and fight all of them._ " With the help of Shiva he might stand a chance of succeeding but Altair did not want to take a chance like that.

"Right then you slaves get up, it's time to make us some money." One of the guards said while jabbing his spear into the sides of sleeping slaves, Altair stood up shakily, he was fully able to stand up normally. but it was much better to put on an act for them. " _Is that truly necessary?_ " Shiva asked him with a note of disgust. " _Yes, let them think i'm too weak to fight back._ " Altair replied to Shiva angrily, he was tired of her second guessing him.

The sun blinded Altair when he stepped outside for the first time in months, that was one reaction he did not have to feign. He noticed the amount of people staring at the people being forced off of the ship as well, many of them were staring at the Fanalis prisoners with greed in their eyes. " _How disgusting._ " Shiva commented when Altair looked at the crowd, she generally saw what Altair saw.

"This next one is young, strong, and healthy starting price 100,000." The seller said after making Altair turn around several times and open his mouth to show he had all his teeth still. He knew nothing of prices in this part of the world since back in Carthago, if he wanted something he would trade for it. Apparently he was worth a lot though, since the only buyers who kept raising prices for him after a while were very well dressed compared to the others.

The end amount of money Altair was worth ended up around 600,000. He still had no clue how much he was worth with this new currency. " _Now?_ " Shiva asked him as they left the city, she seemed eager to have him kill those who would strip him of his freedom. " _Not yet, let's wait until we are farther from the city._ " Shiva seemed disappointed in his response. After a while Altair noticed some of the guards talking and felt a desire to speak with someone other than Shiva, so he turned to the carts driver, an old man who was brandishing a pair of hand axes and said. "Greetings."

The cart's driver tried to ignore the words directed at him, but after a while began to feel uncomfortable with the eyes boring into the back of his head. "I don't have any reason to talk to you." He said quietly while flicking the reins to get the horses to move faster. Later that evening while Altair sat on the ground enjoying the fresh air and open sky, the driver of the cart brought Altair a bowl of hot soup and said. "The boss wants you to be strong for when you get to his estate, and put these on." He pulled out a package that had a fresh set of clothes in it.

Altair tried on the simple white tunic and baggy leggings, the clothes also came with a pair of leather bracers and some simple yet sturdy leather sandals. "The boss seems to like you quite a bit boy." The driver said to Altair before turning to try and leave, before he could however Altair asked him a question. "What's your name mister?" He could feel Shiva getting annoyed with him for getting friendly with an enemy.

"My name? It's Argyle." The old man with a smile.

 **The next day**

Altair was allowed to sit in the front of the cart that Argyle drove, rather than in the back with the rest of the slaves, apparently he got very lucky with who bought him. Argyle was explaining everything that went on at the plantation that they were being taken to. "Sure all of you are slaves, but here in Reim you can earn your way out of it, that's why this noble likes to buy slaves to work his vineyard, they make him money and he will after a certain number of years make them citizens of Reim."

" _Lies_." Shiva said, trying to exert an influence of distrust over Altair who quickly shook it off, he did not believe everything that Argyle had to say. "Then what did he buy me for?" Altair asked the older man, for a moment Argyle was silent before saying. "Most likely, he wants to have you make him money in the arena, if that isn't the case then he may want you to marry his daughter of something." Argyle chuckled at the last part of his little speech.

Altair thought for a while on what Argyle said, if he was forced to fight in an arena, then he could train his skills again, and pick up a few more, possibly some sword skills too. " _So thats your plan now is it?_ " Shiva asked him, she seemed to be pleased with his choice after this new information was brought to light. " _See Shiva? We just had to wait and see if a better option was available._ " He replied to the voice. " _By the way, you never told me who you are, and why you're in my head._ " Altair said to her, Shiva seemed conflicted for some reason, Altair decided to leave the conversation where it was before she said cryptically. " _All will be made clear soon, my dear vessel_." Altair knew when Shiva was pleased with something, and that sentence was dripping with warmth.

Altair was impressed with the size of the actual estate that then owner of the vineyard lived in, Argyle stopped the cart in front of a large gate and the other guards began to get the slaves out of each cart, they seemed to treat them with more care than the ones of the ship did. That pleased Altair greatly. " _Please keep your guard up around these people. they may seem kind now but they might also have horrible intentions._ " Shiva said to Altair, her words had a small amount of distrust in them, meant to keep Altair from making a poor choice.

"Argyle! is that him?" A well dressed man with a pot belly said while waddling over to the cart and pointing at Altair, his red hair made him stand out. "Yes sir, this is Altair." Argyle said while jerking a thumb towards the teen. The man moved over to Altair and looked him over, he nodded after a few minutes and said. "Good, very good Lucia take him inside and show him where he will sleep." The man said while waving over a girl who looked to be around Altair's age, she had blonde hair framing a pretty face. He also noticed that she was nearly as tall as him, and he was about six feet tall.

"See you later kid." Argyle said before flicking the reins of his cart and disappearing after turning a corner, Altair felt a tug on his arm and turned to face the girl in front of him. "This way please." She said quietly. Altair followed Lucia inside the estate which was filled with multiple open spaces an fountains, Altair found it to be tranquil, Shiva on the other hand was emanating distrust at everything but Lucia.

"These are your quarters." Lucia said while opening a large door. Altair walked into the large airy chamber, it was shocking how much space there was. "This belongs to just me?" He asked her. Lucia nodded with a small smile on her face. "If you need anything later on just tell my father and he will attempt and find it for you." Altair nodded while still looking at the room, the amount of natural light coming from the large windows was plenty for him to see out of, and if the climate was anything to go by he wouldn't need a fire anytime soon.

"You are to be at dinner tonight, my father wants you to get used to life as a noble of Reim." Lucia said to Altair before exiting the room and closing the door, leaving him alone with Shiva who said. " _She seems nice._ " Altair smirked when she said that. " _What is so funny?_ " She asked him. " _The fact that you have been telling me to keep my guard up, and your's is dropped by one girl._ " Altair said to her, his thought was filled with amusement at Shiva's hypocrisy. "Get some rest, fool." Shiva said to him, only a little embarrassed. Altair was smiling when he stretched out of the large comfortable bed and closed his eyes to rest for a short while.


	2. Chapter 2

Altair woke up with a start, he had a dream about the night he was taken from his home, he remembered seeing his father cut down for fighting back, and his mother raped and then run through because she was worthless to them with all the burns on her body, the nightmare had caused him to scream within his own mind and shout a little when he woke up.

" _Are you alright Altair?!_ " Shiva asked him with a large amount of worry in her voice. " _Yes, it was just a bad dream that's all._ " Altair said to her while running his hand down his face. Shiva let off a wave of disapproval at his attempted lie. " _Did you forget that since i'm in your head i see everything you see, that includes dreams Altair._ "

Altair got out of the bed and walked out onto the balcony, the fresh air helped to clear his thoughts. " _Perhaps some food will help to clear your mind?_ " Shiva suggested to Altair a second before his stomach growled. " _It might help._ " Altair replied before moving over to the door to open it. He enjoyed the night air of this part of the world, it reminded him of Carthago.

Altair walked back into the room and went to open the door, when he did he was surprised to find Lucia standing there with her fist raised as if to knock. Altair and her stared at each other for a moment before she finally reacted. "Dinner is ready and Father is requesting that you be brought to him." She said.

"Right, what is there to eat?" Altair asked after his stomach growled again. Lucia frowned at his question before saying. "Father has attempted to find food from your homeland for dinner tonight." Altair only shrugged his shoulders and followed Lucia to a large room with a table that was already filled with food.

" _Answer his questions but do not become friendly with him._ " Shiva said to Altair as he stared at the meal. Lucia showed Altair to his seat, it was an oddly shaped couch or bed, he decided to follow the example of Lucia's father and lay down on it sideways, which was incredibly uncomfortable.

"I am terribly sorry about the fact that you were forcibly taken from your home." The man said while eating a bunch of grapes. Altair remained silent at the comment while he looked for any fish or other meat that was from Carthago. "It isn't a problem now." Altair said finally after settling on a very large fish.

Altair ate in silence for a little bit while Lucia spoke to her father. "You haven't told me your name sir." Altair said after a little while, he had already finished his food and was drinking out of a goblet, the wine was delicious. Lucia's father laughed and said "I haven't, my name is Cicero Artorias. It is a pleasure to meet you Altair."

"Do you have a last name?" Lucia asked Altair after she drank from her own goblet of wine. Altair answered quickly by saying "No." If he had one he didn't remember it.

" _Talkative isn't he?_ " Shiva commented after another hour had passed and Altair had told Cicero everything about his life in Carthago or as the people here called it The Dark Continent. Altair silently agreed with her.

"Perhaps you should get some rest, you seem to be tired." Cicero said, pulling Altair out of his reverie. "Maybe i should." Altair said while yawning. Cicero nodded and held his goblet up in what Altair could only assume was a toast, the man was so drunk it was almost falling out of his hand.

"Goodnight." Lucia said quietly while sipping from her own goblet, Altair bowed to the two and left the room. " _Why am i not drunk?_ " He said to Shiva after he had walked a short distance down the hall and noticed he wasn't stumbling or suffering from blurry vision.

" _Perhaps the wine simply isn't very strong in this part of the world._ " Shiva said in a bored tone. " _What did you do?_ " Altair asked her, suspicion coating his thought. " _Nothing, get some rest tomorrow is going to be an interesting day for you._ " Shiva said as Altair opened the door to his room.

Altair decided that it wasn't worth arguing over whether or not Shiva had done something to make him sober. He went to his bed and lay down, his mind filled with thoughts as he closed his eyes and slept for a few more hours, it was close to morning anyway.

Altair woke up early the next morning, he sat up in his bed and yawned. " _Good morning._ " Shiva said to him, she was just stirring for whatever counted as slumber for herself. "Morning." Altair replied while getting out of his bed and stretching, he decided to do some form of exercise to wake himself up a bit.

" _What are you doing?_ " Shiva asked him as he was finishing his last set of push-ups and moved on to sit-ups. " _Exercising._ " He responded in between grunts. "Why?" Shiva asked him, she was getting on his nerves now. " _Because some problems need muscle rather than wit._ " He snapped back, he felt Shiva stiffen in annoyance at his anger.

" _At least bathe after your done, and get something to eat._ " Shiva said with a more nurturing tone. Altair finished his exercises and stood up to stretch a little bit more, doing as many of those as he could left him stiff all over. " _Fine_." He said when he smelled his own body odor.

When Altair entered the small room meant for bathing he saw that someone had taken the liberty to fill the large metal tub with warm water. " _Looks comfortable._ " Shiva said with a small amount of envy. Altair ignored her and took off the tunic he was wearing, a new one had been set out for him as well.

The water was warm and comfortable on his muscles, years of training and hunting with his father and brothers had left his body well defined like all Fanalis, and he had his own fair share of scars as well. He used the cake of soap to clean himself and then stepped out of the tub and began to use the white towel to dry himself off.

"Excuse me." Lucia said after knocking on the door to the room, Altair quickly wrapped the towel around his waist to block any view of his extremities before saying "Come in." Lucia slowly entered the room with her eyes facing the ground. "I'm not entirely naked." Altair said, his face starting to turn red.

Lucia looked up slowly after saying that and also seemed somewhat embarrassed at the situation. "My father would like to speak with you again at breakfast, which is ready." She said quickly. Altair sighed while popping the bones in his neck and said. "I will be there when i'm done." Lucia bowed before leaving the room very quickly.

" _She seemed embarrassed as well._ " Shiva commented as Altair changed into his fresh clothes quickly. " _Shut up Shiva._ " He said quickly. Altair felt Shiva's amusement at his reaction towards Lucia. " _What was it you said last night? Something about me dropping my guard because of one girl?_ " Shiva said barely containing a laugh. " _I Said shut up!_ " Altair shot back, her remarks had made his face become a bright red.

Shiva let the matter drop after that and left Altair alone while his face went back to it's normal color.

After she had delivered the message from her father to Altair, Lucia stood rushed out of the Fanalis' room and stood out in the hall, her face also bright red. " _I can't believe that he was so casual about that._ " She thought to herself as two servants passed her and looked at her with interest.

Lucia stood outside of Altair's door until her heart stopped racing and she heard the sound of his feet approaching. She quickly moved out of the way as he left his room. "Uh… hello." He said awkwardly. Lucia returned his horrible greeting. "Good morning, follow me to breakfast."

As the two of them walked down the hall Lucia could feel Altair staring at her, though every so often the feeling went away. "Why does Cicero keep sending you to deliver messages to me? Doesn't he have servants for that kind of thing?" Altair asked suddenly. Lucia stopped for a moment and thought. " _Why does he keep sending me to get him and give him messages?_ " After a moment Lucia decided that she had no clue why. "I have no idea why he doesn't send a servant to do this." She said while raising hers arms in a gesture that said "No clue".

Altair only grunted and continued to follow her to the Solar which was were they would be eating. "My father is just through there, i have already eaten and must take care of some business for him." Lucia said to altair while ushering him into the room.

As Altair entered the room he saw that once again Cicero had not been stingy with the food and drink. "Please help yourself." Cicero said from his seat, once again Altair sat down on the couch and looked at the large amount of food, he decided on an apple and some other fruit, there was some meat but he wanted something relatively light.

Cicero waited for Altair to eat and drink before starting a conversation with him. "How do you feel about fighting dangerous animals?" He asked Altair, who was drinking some water from a goblet. Altair finished drinking before responding. "I hunted many dangerous animals with my brothers and father." He said calmly.

Cicero nodded and said "How would you like to see the colosseum? The fights are excellent there, you may even find another Fanalis as well." Altair debated with Shiva about what to say, finally the two of them agreed that if he wanted to he could.

"Are you planning on having me fight?" Altair asked Cicero calmly. Cicero set down his goblet before saying. 'I would not mind if you decided to fight and make a name and money for yourself, but if you plan to do that then i think it would be wise to take you to the trainers there." This caught Altair's interest, he could fight and learn more about…. well everything.

"Fine, when are you planning on taking me to this place?" Altair asked Cicero. Cicero sat for a short while before saying. "Today, if you wish." Altair nodded in confirmation, this was interesting him greatly, a good fight would take his mind off of his current situation. "Very well, i shall have Argyle accompany us, i was speaking to him last night before dinner and he spoke highly of you. Cicero said, obviously pleased.

Altair was stunned by how much life was in the capital city of Riem, compared to his original home it was much more lively. He noticed Argyle glancing at him every so often with a grin on his face, Cicero was busy talking to him so Altair had time to process his new environment.

" _It's so lively._ " He thought to Shiva, who seemed less impressed with the city. " _So it is, but please show caution, several people have stared at you for a while._ " Shiva responded, she seemed to be afraid that someone would try and take Altair hostage. Altair looked around as discreetly as he could and noticed that Shiva was right, two men were staring at him and also at Argyle.

"Ah here it is." Cicero said, drawing Altair's attention to a large circular building, he could hear the sound of a crowd of people cheering. "We won't enter the arena, we need to speak with someone in that complex over there." Cicero said while pointing at a large building that was close to the Colosseum.

"Sir, are you sure you want to get him trained by the Yambala Gladiators?" Argyle asked with a look of surprise on his face. "I have already arranged for them to train him if he proves himself to be willing to learn." Cicero said with a smile on his face as he looked over at Altair. "It might be fun." Altair said with a shrug.

"Very well then, Argyle take him there i have some business to attend to." Cicero said before walking back the way the three of them had come. "Well lad, lets go get you signed up to train with these guys." Argyle said while walking towards the building with Altair in tow.

 **Took me a while to get around to writing this, as much as i would like to try and go beyond 2000 or 3000 words i find that it become very difficult to wokr on one thing for too long. Anyway hope you guys all enjoy this chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

Two years passed after that day when Altair began to train with the Yambala Gladiators, and in this two years he had mastered magoi manipulation, learned to count the many different currencies of the world, and began to fight with a blade similar to the ones the Yambala Gladiators used.

" _It is a peaceful day today Altair._ " Shiva said as Altair stood on the deck of a small ship he had hired to take him out to a Dungeon that had appeared on a new island near Reim, he was wearing armor on his legs and arms and had replaced the usual attire of Reim with some leather leggings and a leather jerkin He had kept his hair in a braid.

" _It won't be very peaceful inside though._ " Altair replied as he looked at the massive tower, it would be his first dungeon and he intended to take it. When Cicero learned of his plans he insisted on sending Argyle and Lucia with.

" _Why did Cicero send his own daughter? I can understand Argyle but Lucia is a scholar not a warrior._ " Shiva said, joining Altair in trying to figure it out. " _Perhaps she has some sort of knowledge about the inside of the Dungeon?_ " Altair replied before Shiva took over the vision in his left eye for a short moment to look at Lucia, Altair could see what she saw and was surprised by the amount of Magoi around her.

" _So that's why he sent her._ " Shiva said calmly while returning Altair's vision to normal. " _She's a Magician._ " Altair responded with a small amount of surprise. " _From the magoi around her, she can use fire which will be useful in this dungeon._ " Shiva said, adding more information and speculation to the theory they had created.

"Altair! Argyle! come here i want to discuss the dungeon!" Lucia called from the small table she had set up on the center of the deck.

"What is it?" Altair asked as he sat down on the hard deck with Argyle joining him. "I just wanted to go over the basic information of this dungeon." Lucia said while unraveling a scroll on her small table.

"It's name is Bahamut, from the words on the doors, a few mercenary companies have already attempted to enter it and capture it, but failed." Lucia said before stopping for a moment. "So, we need to be careful when we go in just incase they might still be around." Argyle said while sharpening one of his axe's.

"Very." Lucia said with a nod of her head. "And just what can you do to help us Lucia?" Altair asked, he had also pulled out his own blade and began to sharpen its edge. Altair smiled slightly as he saw Lucia stiffen in the way she did when she was about to try and show off.

"If you must know Altair, over the past two years i have begun to practice magic at father's request." Lucia said while taking out a roll from the bag she had at her side, she unrolled it and began to assemble a simple metal rod with a ruby at both ends of it.

"That's why i smelled singed hair and cloth." Argyle said as he put away his whetstone and slid his axes back into their sheathes. "Some of my early attempts at it." Lucia said, her cheeks red from the comment about her amatuer skills.

"So long as you don't kill us with a spell gone wrong it should be useful." Altair said while sheathing his own sword. "I assure you i won't wind up harming either of you two, my accuracy is superb and my magoi count is rather high." Lucia said haughtily.

Before anyone could say anything the man who was the captain of the ship yelled "Land Ho!" The ship stopped after a few moments and the small crew lowered a small rowboat into the water.

"Grab an oar Altair, let's get this thing moving." Argyle said as the Lucia climbed into the boat, both men looking away respectfully as she did, the long skirt she wore was not as open as others but still revealed plenty.

"Any mercenaries at the entrance?" Altair asked Lucia as he rowed, she was sitting with her back to Argyle and was staring at Altair, she noticed that his arms were bare except for the vambraces on his forearms.

"Lucia?" Altair said before she snapped out of her short trance. "There shouldn't be any, reports said the commanders of each took their entire company in with, if they survived the monsters and traps, they have likely killed each other off or are still trying to." Lucia said while looking away from the Fanalis.

For a while they sat in silence as the boat drifted towards the island that Bahamut sat on, the impossibly massive tower casting a very large shadow over them all. When they reached the shore, Altair and Argyle both jumped off the boat with their weapons drawn, some of the mercenaries may have stayed behind or somehow left the dungeon.

"Clear, for now." Altair said after scanning the beachhead for a moment, as Lucia stepped out of the boat and into the surf both Argyle and Altair stiffened before slowly looking over at each other and nodding.

"What's wrong?" Lucia asked, a worried expression spreading across her face "Mercenaries are further up ahead, near the the pass leading to the dungeon." Altair said quietly before getting out of the water. "How do you know?" Lucia asked, curious about how he figured that out.

"I can smell campfires, it's different than volcanic ash and flame." Altair said as they walked towards the pass leading up to the dungeon. "Fanalis have a better sense of smell than most people lass, Altair is going to be very useful here." Argyle said as he looked around.

"Very well." Lucia said with a sigh as she walked, using her staff as a walking stick. The four of them continued up the pass until they started coming upon the remains of campfires and camps. "About a day old." Argyle said after checking a fire pit. "They all went inside then." Altair said before taking some food that had been left.

"That stuff might be poisoned." Argyle said after Altair took a bite out of a dried pear. "It's fine." Altair said with a smile as he devoured the rest of the fruit. "Let's move on to the dungeon." Lucia said after wiping some sweat off her brow.

"Damn." Altair muttered when they reached the massive door that led into the dungeon. "Do we just go in?" Argyle asked Lucia. "Yes, we just walk in and find our way to the Djinn inside." Lucia responded while walking up to the door.

"I don't like this." Altair said when the doors swung open to reveal some type of gateway that had what looked like stars in it. "Good, you're going in first." Lucia said before shoving Altair inside the dungeon.

"Damnit!" Altair shouted after dragging himself out of a pool of oil before it caught fire. "That bitch." Altair said after swatting a patch of flame on his clothes. Altair looked around the brightly lit room and began to notice large burning mounds that smelled like meat being cooked.

A moment later he heard the sound of Lucia and Argyle falling into a pool of oil. "Get out of that stuff, it'll catch fire." He said calmly before turning around to help them. "Hurry up and get us out of here then!" Lucia shouted as Altair wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her out of the oil, her clothes were coated with the stuff. "I can get myself out of this." Argyle said as he grabbed onto the edge of the pit and hauled himself out a moment before the flames began to advance towards the oil.

"You may want to change before using any of your magic." Altair said to Lucia as they left the chamber. "Give me a moment then, by the way what were those mounds in the entrance?" She replied. Altair looked her in the eyes before saying "Some of the mercenaries." Lucia looked shocked for a moment before going around a corner to change into a new set of clothes.

Altair and Argyle soon found themselves waiting for what felt like an eternity for Lucia to change, after a while Shiva decided to start a conversation with Altair. " _There is something strange about this place_." She said with concern. " _What do you mean?_ " Altair responded, careful not to speak out loud like he did whenever he was alone with her. " _I do not think we are safe sitting here, shouldn't the girl be done changing by now?_ " Shiva said in frustration. " _What's there to worry about other than mercenaries?_ " Altair asked her in confusion. " _Djinn have a habit of filling their dungeons with fantastic and dangerous creatures, surely you paid enough attention to Lucia to know that much._ " Shiva said in an annoyed tone at her vessels lack of attention.

"We can get moving now." Lucia said before Shiva could say anything else to Altair, she had changed into a dark red dress that was open near her hips rather than lower on her legs, to ensure no one saw anything they weren't supposed to she have put on a pair of cloth trousers, these were also a dark red color and the dress was sleeveless.

"About time." Argyle said as he stood up and popped his neck. "Good." Altair said as he began to walk down the only hallway.

"Duck!" Lucia shouted to Altair who had just pulled his blade out of a mercenary only to see a fireball flying towards him, as he barely managed to avoid being hit he heard the sound of another mercenary screaming in pain as the flames quickly enveloped him. Altair looked around for any enemies who were left and was pleased to see Argyle killing the last one by burying an axe in his neck and pulling it out.

"Been too long since i had a good fight like that." Argyle said after taking a few breaths. "You would've loved Balbadd then." Altair said as he remembered a fight he got caught up in between the army and a very large group of bandits. "Must've been a good one then." Argyle replied before laughing.

"How was your time in Balbadd by the way? You didn't get a chance to tell us about it before this dungeon showed up." Lucia asked as the three of them left the chamber they had been fighting in. Altair shrugged before answering "The food was too spicy for my tastes and their arena wasn't the greatest, though i did meet their king, he seemed like a decent person." Lucia stopped dead in her tracks "You met the king of Balbadd?!" She exclaimed, surprised that Altair hadn't lost his head due to a bad comment.

"Yeah, he paid me for helping clear out the bandits and for my exceptional skills in the arena." Altair replied as he slowed down at the end of the hall. "What is that?" Altair asked as he saw a massive door at the end of the hall they had just entered, the smell of blood began to creep into his nose and he noticed the large amount of corpses lying in the hall.

"Looks like they fought here, though there's blood on the door as well, some made it through though." Argyle said after looking around, Altair walked up to the door and looked at it for a short while before Lucia walked up behind him. "One company was wiped out here, whoever survived made it inside the next area." He said to Lucia as she took a moment to inspect the door as well.

"So, any ideas on how to open it?" Altair asked as he looked at a set of two right hands imbedded in the door. "The hands look promising." Lucia said as she finally stood up. "Then let's just put ours hands in them and see what happens." Altair said as he grabbed Lucia's right hand and placed it in the slot near her, he did the same with his own right hand. "Altair you idiot!" Lucia shouted as the three of them were enveloped in a bright light.

"That wasn't that bad." Altair said as he blinked a few times when the light began to fade, he became aware of a deafening silence however and Shiva spoke when she became aware of it as well " _Find the Djinn quickly, the necropolis is no place for the living._ " Altair suddenly felt like he knew were the djinn was, though it may have been simply the fact that there was only one building that was different from the others, a large black temple that had massive braziers burning.

"We should head that way." Altair said to his companions as he grabbed them both and made ready to jump, using his own strength to launch himself high in the air, covering the distance quickly, though when he reached the temple he was feeling slightly winded. "You okay lad?" Argyle asked as Altair fell onto a knee and caught his breath.

"Fine, just haven't done that before." Altair said as he stood up and unsheathed his blade. "We have company." Lucia said as she raised her staff and several fireballs materialized in an arc around her head. "No rest for the weary." Argyle said as he pulled out his own hand axes. "Let's get this over with." Altair said as he began to walk towards the mercenaires standing in front of him.

The fight felt like it was taking longer than it did, there were at least fifty enemies between them and the door and they had to fight them all. "This is getting us nowhere fast!" Lucia said as she launched another salvo of fireballs and took out a few more mercenaires. "Agreed!" Altair said as he pulled his sword out of another's stomach and sheathed it.

"What are you doing?!" Argyle asked in alarm as Altair focused himself for a moment, he wasn't skilled with just a blade, as a fanalis he was skilled in hand to hand combat. "Move!" Altair shouted as he prepared to sprint through the crowd of foe's, the ground under his feet cracked and his feet left prints in the stone as he suddenly moved and rushed the crowd, using only his hands and speed to break through.

"Hold them off!" Altair shouted as he continued up the steps. "We can handle this many!" Lucia said as she burn a large group of mercenaries with a jet of flame. "She's right lad, go!" Argyle said as he used both his axes to cut down several more. Altair only nodded as he moved up to the door, crushing the last mercenaries guarding it. " _The final stretch._ " Shiva said as he pushed open the large doors.

"Ah, the other prospect has arrived, and is fresh from battle." A deep booming voice said as Altair walked into the temple. "You must be joking." Someone else said in dismay. "It seems your men were not enough to stop him, look at the blood on his arms, how delightful." The Djinn said in approval.

"What's your name Djinn?" Altair asked in between each heavy breath, blood was running down an eye, it wasn't even his own. "I am Bahamut, spirit of cinder and wrath, and I welcome you, king candidate, there is something strange about you, but that can wait please deal with this other man, he bores me." Bahamut said in a very official manner. "Whatever." Altair said as he approached the commander and wrapped his hand around the shocked man's neck, a moment later the commander was in the air, gasping for breath as Altair slowly crushed his throat.

"W-wait! Please let me live!" The man said, he voice was struggling to escape from Altair's steel grip. "Sorry, but this Djinn is mine." Altair said as he finally crushed the man's throat. "Very good, now on to the matter of my strange feeling about you." Bahamut said just as the large doors opened and Lucia entered with Argyle, both of them covered in blood and looking ragged.

"Ah, more visitors, friends of yours?" Bahamut asked Altair, who only nodded. "Good, there is something strange about you, fanalis a presence that should not exist in your soul, come forth spirit!" Bahamut said, a moment later Altair felt a piercing pain in his head and his left eye clouded up for a moment before the pain finally subsided.

"What the?!" Lucia gasped, causing Altair to chance a look at what she was surprised about, he saw yet another Djinn, this one female and wearing what looked like animal furs, she also had long ears like Bahamut, but lacked his more draconic appearance. "Shiva?" Altair asked in confusion. "Yes, my dear vessel I am just as surprised as you are." Shiva replied dryly.

"So, the spirit of Tactics and Frost graces us with her presence." Bahamut said with a note of wrath in his voice. "I have no quarrel with you Bahamut, Altair has been my vessel for a while now, and I sought a way to leave his mind, you have given me that chance." Shiva replied, a moment later she turned to Altair and held out her hand to him.

"Take this dear vessel, that I may finally give to you my full power." Shiva said as she opened her hand and revealed a metal choker with sapphires inlaid into the steel. "Very well, I have made my choice to be your Djinn, King Altair please take my power and use it to build a grand kingdom." Bahamut said after Altair put the choker on and Shiva disappeared into it, Bahamut did the same, this time goings towards the blade on Altair's back.

"Can we leave now?" Altair asked after everything was finished. "I suppose, though I need to know more about Shiva, how was she in your head?" Lucia replied while walking over to him. "Later." Altair said, backing away from Lucia. "We should leave dear vessel, as I said before the necropolis does not welcome the living." Shiva said, once again using her connection to Altair in order to speak to him.

"Let's get out of here." Altair said, a moment later a door on the opposite side of the chamber opened, spilling bright light into it. "No other way out." Argyle said with a shrug. Altair and Lucia followed the older man into the light.


	4. Chapter 4

The trio sat on the deck of the ship, enjoying the sun while sitting next to a small fortune in gold and jewels, though for Altair there was another reason to be pleased he had acquired not one but two djinn. "So.. what do you want to do with all this treasure?" Argyle asked the fanalis. "I suppose finding a place to start a country wouldn't be so bad, isn't that what the power given by the djinn is for?" Altair replied after looking at the eight point star on his blade.

" _Yes, that is what our power is for._ " Shiva said in Altair's mind, though from the reaction of Lucia and Argyle, she had decided to speak with them as well. "How is Shiva doing that?" Lucia asked, her eyes wide. Altair only shrugged in response before Shiva spoke again " _The power of the Djinn is the power of kings, Altair has two Djinn now, it should be no problem for him to create whatever kingdom he chooses._ " Altair smiled as the thought fleshed itself out in his head there was only one problem "If I want to do that, i'm going to need more funds than just one dungeons worth of gold." He said with a frown. Lucia nodded while Argyle just looked up at the sky, trying to figure out how much the fanalis would need. "We can try to capture more dungeons as they appear and perhaps I can work something out with father, he may be willing to help us with funds given how much money you brought him through the arena." Lucia said while pulling out a book and writing down some basic numbers.

Over the next two months Altair would continue fighting in the arena and earning a fair amount of coin, though he would lose a mock battle or two, his greatest defeat was at the hands of a young man with somewhat purple hair, "How rare are dungeons I wonder?" Altair said to himself as he enjoyed the summer heat flowing into the room, Reim and Partevia had been at each other's throats again, and Altair was considering fighting for some more coin of course if he even tried that then the empire would force him to fight until the wars ended for good his thoughts turned to less morbid ideas and back towards making a kingdom "A place where everyone can be free to do as they wish, or perhaps a land for mercenaries and pirates to call home, I wouldn't have to worry much about a military then." Altair said to himself with a grin on his face, he even had an idea about where to settle, he had wanted to return to Carthago for some time, at least to eradicate the slave town that had been his last view of home. " _Do not let vengeance rule your mind my king._ " Shiva said, despite the fact that she now lived in the choker around his neck, she could still speak to him through telepathy. "Is it a problems that I want them to pay for their misdeeds?" Altair asked her while getting up and walking out onto the balcony, the warm wind blowing on his face and reminding him of the past. Altair soon returned to his room to try and find some food, he was feeling very hungry after he had helped Lucia move some crates filled to the brim with scrolls. " _Perhaps, no good king seeks vengeance on a whim anyway, only if there have been continued wrongs against his people._ " Shiva replied cooly, her words slowly soothing Altair and making him see the sense in not attack them yet. "Those slavers have committed many wrongs against my people." Altair replied, his face darkening as he remembered his mother and father falling to the ground, covered in their own blood. Shiva was silent after that, but Altair felt a warmth radiating from the choker and began to calm down he realized that Shiva was showing some compassion for him. "Thank you, Shiva." Altair said while sitting down and putting his thoughts into order. " _You are welcome._ " Shiva replied with warmth.

Altair remained seated before starting to fall asleep, it was a very comfortable day and he had nothing to do as of yet. " _Run Altair!" His mother shouted over the screams of the rest of the village and the sound of flames eating their goods and homes. Altair did as his mother said and started to run out of the tent before slamming into his father who dropped the corpse of the slaver whose neck he had snapped. "Father, what should I do?" He asked the large man who smiled at his son's question. "Run." He said a moment before several arrows slammed into his back and blood splattered on Altair's face, leaving him shocked and on his knees. A moment later Altair heard another thud as his mother fell to the ground, several arrows in her as well, all he could do was sit there and watch his world fall apart._

Altair's eyes snapped open and he let out a silent scream, the dream was a common one that had always left him feeling fear and in a cold sweat, as time went on he had begun to stopping screaming out loud and only let out a small gasp when there was any sound coming from his mouth. " _You had the dream again._ " Shiva said with a hint of sorrow. "Of course I did, they need to pay for all the dead." Altair said, feeling rage swell up inside of him again this time not even Shiva could stop it. Altair quickly stood up and ran to the balcony, vaulting over it and landing in the garden below with a thud before quickly getting back up and sprint full force into the hill surrounding the villa, letting his own rage fuel him as he felt the night air on his skin. "Why do you torture yourself with this guilt?" Shiva asked Altair after he finally reached the place he always went to when he couldn't hold in his own feelings of that night any longer. "Because if I don't remember them then who will?!" He shouted after punching a massive boulder, watching it crack from the force, the cracks spread out even further, three years had left a massive circle of them in the boulder as he had been dealing with it. " _You can still remember them Altair, but this is not healthy for you, seek help from Lucia or another who cares for you, but please do not let your anger drive you to these acts._ " Shiva replied as he continued to hit the boulder with more force in each blow. "They don't understand what it's like to watch a parent die because some bastard wants to make himself rich." Altair said after punching the boulder one last time and collapsing to the ground and panting. Shiva was silent for a while before Altair felt the familiar icy cool of her trying to calm his nerves and he began to drift off to sleep in the clearing, feeling the night air surround him and remind of better times.

 **Sorry about the short chapter, this is just something to sort of act as filler I guess, something better will show up eventually.**


	5. Chapter 5

Altair had taken to drinking with Argyle recently, the gladiators wanted to train some fresh blood and figured Altair would kill them all before they really made enough of a name for themselves to bring in a fair deal of money from their fights. So it was either go and kill some poor sods in a battlefield for some pocket change or just sit back and relax for a while while Lucia looked into finding another dungeon to capture.

"Hey Altair lighten up a little, you're looking grim!" Argyle said after tossing an arm around his shoulders and forcing him to chug the drink in his cup and nearly choke on it. "I'll lighten up when you stop trying to kill me you geezer!" Altair replied loudly, the din of people just enjoying themselves at a tavern was a good reason for his voice being raised, didn't help that Argyle had some of his mercenary friends with him that night as well.

"What's eating you tonight?" Argyle asked, his own mood changing at Altair's hostility. Altair sat for a moment in silence as he put his own thoughts into order. "Whether or not I should go back to Carthago." Altair said simply, his voice even and his thoughts unaffected by the wine.

"What for?" Argyle asked, his eye's showing his fears of what Altair might be planning. Altair sighed before taking another drink and giving him a solid answer "Vengeance."

Argyle looked at Altair in disbelief "Vengeance?" He asked, making sure the drink didn't just make him mishear. "Aye, on the slavers who slaughtered my parents and took me away from my home." Altair replied, his face stony and filled with barely suppressed rage. "Altair, take some advice from someone who killed people out of rage. Don't do it." Argyle said calmly, the old man had remembered the one time he himself killed an entire camp in revenge for death of his own family, he had been left with a pile of corpses and no satisfaction in his actions.

"I don't care about whether or not I'll feel satisfaction in killing them, I just want to see them burn like my family did." Altair replied, Argyle felt like the room had suddenly gotten much hotter than before and noticed a slight glow coming from Altair's blades scabbard. "You're doing something with that new Djinn." Argyle said, not really sure what was going on though that was enough to make Altair realize what was going on, a moment later the blade stopped glowing and Altair had stood up to leave.

"Damn kids." Argyle said after Altair had left the tavern, most likely in search of something to take his anger out on.

Lucia sat in her study, looking at a large map of the known world and a report from one of her merchant ships talking about possible dungeons being raised as well as things more practical like other trade companies rising, most prominent among them was the Sindria Trading Company.

"Strange that this Sinbad was able to build so much in such a short amount of time." Lucia muttered to herself as she went over reports and notes she had been able to gather on the strange boy. From what little background information she could gather he had come from a rundown village in Parthevia and somehow managed to capture the first dungeon that appeared in the world, other than that there was seemingly nothing of note about him.

Lucia continued to look at the reports for a few more minutes before turning her attention to the mountain of paperwork that she had neglected for a few days when a large crate filled with information on Sinbad arrived and caught her attention. Now she had to deal with all of her more financial work as well as the costs for Altair's mysterious search.

"That man….always grumbling about finding the people who took him from his old home. Why can't he just be content with the fact that he has Argyle and I to call family if he wishes?" Lucia said to herself sullenly as she read the reports and signed her family name at the bottom before moving on to the next one.

After another hour of reading and writing Lucia stood up to stretch and find a servant to bring her something to eat and drink, most nights she was too busy to eat dinner with her father. A sad fact of her growing up and wanting to be more responsible to her family name, but one she dealt with in a way that would make many parents proud.

When Lucia entered the hall she didn't see a servant waiting for her command, in fact she didn't hear or see anyone aside from the sounds of someone swinging a weapon, most likely Altair. Lucia kept walking towards the sound of Altair swinging the blade he always carried with him around, eventually she began to notice that air seemed warmer the closer she got until it was sweltering and reminded her of her own time spent practicing magic.

"Why is it so hot?" Lucia thought to herself, knowing full well that the villa never got so hot during anytime of the year, especially at night. Eventually Lucia came upon an open part of the villa that was filled with stone instead of grass and saw the source of the intolerable heat, Altair was standing in the center of a ring of dark red flames his breathing was ragged and she could see the veins on his face as well as blood pouring from Altair's eyes.

"Altair…." Lucia said in shock at his appearance while slowly walking towards him. "Lucia….shoot some fire at me." Altair said quietly, Lucia noticed how raspy his voice sounded and quickly began to cast a spell like he asked, she had an idea of what was going on with him and knew why he wanted her to attack him with fire.

Soon Lucia watched as a pillar of flame engulfed Altair and began to rapidly disappeared, seemingly into the cracks in the scorched armor covering Altair's arms, she also noticed him saying something and began to listen to it. "O Spirit of Cinder and Wrath! Hear my plea and grant me thy power that I might reave bloody vengeance upon those who bring injustice! Grant me the power of a great and terrible magus!" Altair shouted as the last of Lucia's flames entered his arms, a moment later he was engulfed in the same dark red flames which soon dissipated and revealed what Altair was trying to accomplish, he was now covered from head to toe in armor that appeared to be scorched save for the draconic wings, it had the same motif as the Djinn Bahamut Lucia realized, though she was only able to see it for a moment before it turned into flames and vanished from Altair, who promptly fell on his knees, and then his face.

Lucia! What was all of that?!" Argyle asked as he came running around the corner, by this time Lucia had rolled Altair over and was letting his head rest in her lap, she had wiped the blood from his face and the veins had finally gone back down, "His magoi should return in a few hours but,...we can't let him do this unsupervised." Lucia thought to herself, not noticing that Argyle had arrived with several others.

"Lucia, what happened?" Argyle repeated, gently shaking her shoulder. "The fool nearly killed himself, take him to his room and have someone keep an eye on him, alert me if his condition changes." Lucia said calmly, taking control of the situation the only way she knew how to. "Yes ma'am." Argyle replied while standing up and telling the servants what he would need, Lucia remained by Altair's side until they returned with a stretcher and took him away, Lucia followed for some time before returning to her own rooms, already looking for several manuscripts on the matter at hand.

"That he would be so foolish as to exhaust his supply of magoi like that….." Lucia thought to herself as she found what she was looking for and began to read, she was trying to figure out a way to speed up Altair's recovery. Lucia had read from some of the few reports on the matter that fanalis had a lower amount of magoi in return for their abnormal strength and stamina at this point she figured she had seen the truth in those theories now that Altair was in his current state.

Altair's eyes snapped open, his body felt cold in the warm air of Reim and his breathing was even. " _It's about time you woke up._ " Shiva said from the depths of his mind, Altair only groaned as he felt how sore his body was.

"What happened? Did I actually pull off a full Djinn equip?" Altair asked her after a while and a great deal of effort on his part to even sit up in bed. He only felt cold in response from the Djinn who was usually so very supportive of him.

" _You scared Lucia with that stunt, there was so little magoi left within you that I feared the worst._ " Shiva finally said, making Altair realize just how far he had truly pushed himself in trying to master Bahamut.

"I see, shall I make it up to her then?" Altair replied after he felt strong enough to get out of his bed, by now the room had returned to normal temperatures and he welcomed the warmth after being cold for a few hours at least.

Altair eventually left his room and began to follow the smell of food until he reached the same room that he had first dined with Cicero and Lucia in, there was plenty of food and no one else there yet, but Altair's stomach was growling from the feast in front of him. "Might as well wait for them to show up, unless this was just left here for no reason." He said to himself while sitting down at the spot he had always sat in.

Lucia glared at Altair as he wolfed down the morning meal, making little time for talk about the other night. She was glad her father was away on business and would not be home in time to notice that one of his courtyards was covered in scorch marks from altair's attempt at mastering his new Djinn. For now however she was still trying to find a chance to berate Altair for nearly killing himself..

"You're glaring at me like you're about to tear me apart, what's wrong?" Altair asked her in his usual rude manner, several years and he still had not improved on how to act when in the same building as nobles.

"What wrong is that you nearly died last night and you act like it was nothing." Lucia replied, her words dripping with venom, and fire starting to dance across her eyes. She had had enough of Altair being so irresponsible and intended to put an end to his childish vendetta of vengeance.

"You still insist on killing as many slavers as you possibly can simply because you cannot get over the past, I understand it must have been horrible but would your parents really want to see you like this?" Lucia said before Altair could continue, feeling her own anger and frustration at him finally break loose.

Lucia was about to continue when she noticed that Altair's face seemed dark and made of stone, he slowly set down the cup he was holding and walked towards Lucia, a cold rage burning in his eyes when Lucia finally saw them. "Don't ever speak of what my parents would want to see." Altair said to her in a tone of voice she had never heard before, one that was level and emotionless, yet somehow filled with rage.

"It was your father's greed that brought me to this point, and the greed of men just like him that ruined the lives of so many fanalis." Altair continued, Lucia noticed his hands were starting to bleed from how tightly he kept his fists balled up and that the room had become deathly cold, despite the fact that it was a warm morning.

"Altair...I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that, it's just that you made me worried." Lucia said, finally admitting that she had felt fear for the first time in her life last night, when someone close to her nearly killed themselves because they wanted to have the power to change something in this cruel world.

"You don't have to apologize, I should have been more careful, I'll be with Argyle if you need me." Altair said before stalking out of the room, the air slowly returning to its normal temperature, Lucia noticed that the wine in her goblet had frozen solid "Was that Shiva's doing?" She thought to herself.

Argyle leaned back in his chair, he was already drunk and Altair had just joined him, already in a foul mood. "So, Lucia give you a rough time?" He asked Altair as the youth took a long drink from the cup in front of him.

"Aye." Altair replied, Argyle knew full well that their argument had gone poorly, and was now trying to cheer Altair up with drink and possibly some news about any dungeons. News which should have arrived an hour before Altair did.

"Anything on any dungeons that Sinbad hasn't captured?" Altair asked after a while, Argyle took his boots off the table and leaned forward to talk to Altair, his mind now clear enough to form a long sentence. "Not much, the lad is still in the capital telling his stories about capturing his first dungeon and making a mint for it." Argyle said, feeling a little bit a jealousy at the fact that he and Altair hadn't thought of it first.

"Huh, no new ones yet?" Altair asked, Argyle could tell that he wanted to leave Reim if possible,. " _The lads a traveller at heart._ " He thought to himself as the door to the tavern opened and someone began to approach, Argyle slowly reached for one of his axes as the footsteps of his informant approached, still clumsy as when they had been on the deck of a merchant's ship during a storm.

"You better have some good news for me Marcus." He said with a grin as he pulled an axe on his old friend who only pulled out the long knife he was known for using and tapped the blade of Argyle's axe. "I've got some good news and some bad news." Marcus replied, his voice still sounding like nails being run down a block of stone.

Argyle nodded after Marcus told him his story of the dungeon that recently popped up in the Dark Continent, he also felt a tingle run down his spin at Altair's reaction to the place being mentioned. "Thanks for the tip Marcus, I'll make sure you get your pay." Argyle said while dismissing his friend.

"So. How do you want to handle this?" Argyle asked Altair, he knew that they would pass through ports controlled by slavers and felt Altair might start at least one rebellion with his Djinn.

"We get Lucia, go in and grab the Djinn before anyone else gets a chance to." Altair said quickly, showing no thought to the idea of slavers, much to Argyles surprise.

"Alright, I'll start packing my things and hope that Cicero gets back before we leave." Argyle said with a sigh as he stood up and placed a bag of coins on the table, Altair stood up to join him as they left the taverns and started to work on what they would need.

A few days later and Altair stood on the forecastle of the ship they had hired to take them to the port nearest the dungeon which had been identified as Stolas, his eyes fixed on the direction of his home, though he knew there would be few or no fanalis there anymore.

"Remember Lucia, I want to see you all return safely." Cicero said from the dock to his daughter and favorite bodyguard, altair did not return any waves from Cicero, his outburst towards Lucia still fresh on his mind. "Their greed brought me here." He mumbled to himself as the ship began to cast off and he felt the wind begin to caress his face, soon turning into a breeze the ruffled his long hair. "Should get that cut." Argyle said as he walked up to Altair, who only nodded his consent for the old man to take some shears to it later.

"For now I want to learn about any experiences people have had in Stolas, better to be prepared." Lucia said as she joined them, straight to business as usual. Altair only sighed and got ready for a long day.

 **I finally had time to write something and hopefully this will be recieved well, enjoy.**


	6. Chapter 6

Lucia looked around at the dock with excitement, it was full of activity ranging from rich merchants trying to make deals with each other to simple fishermen trying to sell the catch of the day. She was about to say something when she noticed that Altair had covered his head with a hood and was looking at one group in particular, his face seemed to lose color and a scowl was slowly forming across it.

"What's wrong?" Lucia asked Altair, she noticed his hand was already reaching for his blade and could see the rage in his eyes. "Slavers." Altair growled, by now Lucia saw that he was trying to keep himself from drawing the blade and killing the men leading several lines of men, women, and children to a ship all of them were in heavy chains and barefoot, though none of them had the unique color of hair that all Fanalis had. "Let it be for now Altair, there's nothing we can do." Lucia said, keeping her eyes to the ground as Altair turned to face her, she could feel the wrath in them as he glared at her before turning away from her and walking to the inner city. "Let's go. We have a dungeon to capture." She heard him say from a short distance, Argyle only put a hand on her shoulder before walking over to Altair, Lucia began to follow him, her excitement was gone now that she had seen the slaves and felt that she understood little of what Altair had to go through.

From the bow of a ship a man watched three figures depart the docks after an argument over something, most likely the "cargo" that he had been hired to take to another continent the argument did not interest him, neither did the young woman who would fetch a good price on the market or the older man who had the look of a gladiator despite his age, what truly caught his interest was the younger man with the hood covering his head, the man noticed him before he even stepped off the vessel he entered the port on, the color of his hair gave him away for what he was and how much he was worth.

"Fang, go fetch some of the men for me would you? I've just found a treasure in this wretched port." The man said to the slave who was standing behind him quietly, he heard her stand up on the deck, the chains around her feet rattling as she moved, they were longer than most chains for slaves due to the fact that he did not use her for pleasure or for money, she was special for another reason, the same reason that the man who caught his interest was the lighter shade of red hair on her head marked her as one of the most valuable types of slaves in the world. "Yes, master." She said quietly while bowing to him and waiting for him to dismiss her with a wave of his hand. "What a good day it's turning out to be." He said with a smile on his face as he took out his spyglass and watched the trio enter the port, most likely to find a tavern or inn to rest at.

Altair sat at a table with his feet up and his hood covering more of his face, he could do little to keep his red eyes hidden but he could at least keep his hair and eyebrows from sight until he could get his hands on some dye to change the color until they left the port. " _You're scowling again._ " Shiva said to Altair as he began to remember the slaves, and Lucia's reaction to them. " _She should be enraged, she claims to care about those who are bought by her father and then released yet she did nothing to help them_." Altair replied with a thought, including the emotions he was feeling, frustration mostly. A moment later Shiva responded with her usual calm and logic, as well as images of Lucia when she looked away from his face after he turned to face her. Altair had a moment to think before Lucia sat down next to him, two flagons of ale in her hands.

"You should drink something." She said to Altair, who only looked at the drink with distrust. "It's not drugged, I tested it." Lucia said, Altair picked up the wooden cup and took a sip, it was watered down crap but it would do for quenching his thirst, he had felt someone staring at him for sometime after they left the docks, sometime before they even left the ship as well. Altair noticed that Lucia was stiff in her movements and nervous around him at the moment. " _Say something to her._ " Shiva said, a sense of disapproval from a mother filling Altair's head and upper chest as Shiva tried to provoke him to have a conversation with Lucia. " _Yeah yeah, I'll say something._ " Altair replied, still keeping his own guard up despite how active the tavern Argyle suggested was at the moment, most of the patrons wouldn't care much for two young people whispering what they could only assume to be sweet nothings to each other.

"We should talk." Altair said, not entirely sure how to begin the conversation with her. "About what?" Lucia asked, Altair noticed that she was also not sure how to go about this, her face was still stiff and trying to hide the frown that would eventually form. Altair sighed before continuing "About what happened at the docks." He replied, taking a larger drink from the cup, spitting out a small sliver of wood and tasting a little bit of blood. Altair noticed Lucia reach for her own cup and take a sip, the stiffness of her face broken by the poor taste. "Hope you didn't pay too much for this, it's shit if i'm being honest." Altair said, trying to break the ice a little bit before actually getting to the conversation and eventual argument that they would have, like usual it would be more or less about who was morally and logically correct.

"I can assure you that I paid a price that was worth the quality of this….beverage." Lucia replied, trying to sound haughty, Altair's face had a look that said what he felt, his mouth was straight and his eyes drooped somewhat. " _She paid more than it was worth didn't she?_ " He asked Shiva, who only responded with laughter and a feeling of mirth washing over Altair's senses. Altair forgot that despite her skill in bartering trade deals Lucia was easily swindled by those who she considered to be less fortunate than herself. "Is Shiva laughing at me? You seem oddly cheerful." Lucia asked Altair as he quickly stopped grinning, sometimes he forgot that Shivas mood could affect his own. "Don't mind her, we still need to talk." Altair said, trying to get things back on track.

"I'm sorry for acting the way I did, it's just that seeing them reminded me of back then. I never did get to say goodbye to either of my parents." Altair said calmly, feeling some relief in the fact that he was finally telling someone about that night. "I'm the one who should apologize Altair, I reacted in a way that didn't consider your own reasons for hating the entire concept of slavery." Lucia said, making Altair choke on his drink in surprise, usually she would try and chew him out for his actions, this time however she seemed upset.

"Who are you and what have you done with Lucia?" Altair asked, making Lucia punch his shoulder "I'm trying to be serious here. I've grown up with slaves doing everything for me until recently, not once did I ever consider the conditions that they endure before arriving at the villa. I realize now that Argyle most likely broke the chains that confine their movements before they arrived and explained the situation to them. What a fool I am." Lucia said, keeping her own face turned away from Altair's gaze and at her drink. Altair was silent as he looked at his own drink and processed what Lucia just said. "Well…. Any conversation we have about this usually turns into us yelling at each other so this is….new." Altair replied, at a loss for words after hearing her say what he had been saying for the past few years.

"So now that the main issue has been somewhat solved, what are we supposed to do?"" Lucia asked Altair while they both sat in an odd silence, Altair downed the remaining liquid in his cup before giving her an answer "Get something stronger to drink than this crap." He said, Lucia only nodded, a smile on her face rather than the solemn expression she had since the two of them had reached an agreement. "That sounds nice, perhaps Argyle knows what's good." She replied as the both of them stood up and began to walk to the bar. "Don't count on it, he may be old but the man can hold his drink better than most young people." Altair said, a grin on his face as he remembered the first time he tried to outdrink Argyle, only to end up tossed in the cold waters of the river near Cicero's villa.

A man sat at the end of the bar of the tavern, his gaze flicking between his drink and the only person in the entire tavern to cover his head in a hood, this man had been sent out several hours earlier from the ship he was a crewman of after the captain of the ship had told them all of a rare sight, a Fanalis without chains. "Take this to Julius, looks like he was right about that Fanalis, we need some more men but we should be able to take him and the others." He whispered to a child sitting next to him, he handed the kid a note and some gold and gave him the directions to the ship. As the first mate he knew how to read and write since Julius needed something like a secretary but not as expensive as one, of course he was paid more than most of the other crewmen anyways.

"He's gonna love this." The man said as he left the tavern, already coming up with a plan to subdue the largest threat of the three. "Who's going to love what exactly?" Someone asked, making the man stop and look around at the sudden voice, a moment later he felt someone grab him by the neck and drag him into a nearby alley. "Oh shit." The man said as he found himself face to face with a set of red eyes that seemed to glow with rage "You know, the funny thing about this is that you thought I didn't notice you looking back and forth, or that I couldn't hear what you said to that kid." The Fanalis said, his voice low and menacing, the man could only let out a gurgle as the hand around his throat tightened, keeping him from breathing or forming a response.

"Think I'll let you be an example for the rest of you and you're kind." The Fanalis said, dropping the man to the ground and then crushing his legs with his foot. "You bastard...the captains gonna gut you like a pig!" The man shouted from between clenched teeth, "He can try." The Fanalis said before punching the man in the head and forcing his hand through his stomach and began to remove his entrails. "This is justice for the people who died in every damn raid on villages you bastards did, enjoy it." The Fanalis said as the man screamed until there was no longer any air left to make noise with, he knew that no one would come for him at this time of night and that soon he would be dead and most likely left as an example for his crewmates to see when they wake up.

Argyle was sitting in a chair in the room that the three of them shared and finished the rest of his drink Lucia went to bed a while ago and Altair said he had something to take care of. "He better not be gutting slavers." Argyle said quietly to himself so as not to wake up Lucia, who was sleeping soundly in her bed, she had gotten herself wasted for once and would hate the hangover she would have in the morning, Argyle chuckled to himself at the thought of someone who put up an act to look proper most of the time being crabby because she has a headache.

Argyle waited for another hour before Altair returned, his arms covered in blood and his face grim, Argyle had a sinking feeling in his gut. " _Oh no…._ " He thought as he realized that Altair more than likely did what he was hoping he hadn't been doing. "What?" Altair asked him as he noticed Argyle was looking at him with his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide. "You didn't kill a slaver did you?" He asked quietly, trying to remain calm as he began to think about how to leave the city before being stopped by slavers and the guards. Altair only nodded, there was no guilt on his face.

"Lucia's gonna hate this." Argyle said, already feeling the headache he was expecting to be able to sleep off in the morning coming up.

Julius looked at the body of his first mate hanging from the main gates leading to the docks with anger, the man was a pain in the neck but well read and good at his job, for him to meet an end like that was something he felt to be unjust. "Hung by his own entrails, nasty way to go." He heard two of the guards who had been put in charge of cleaning the large puddle of blood that had gathered beneath him as well as his corpse."Fang, do you know who might have done this?" Julius asked the silent girl, his voice steady yet full of malice. He smiled as the girl bowed her head and said "A Fanalis without chains, master." Julius nodded and turned to her, grabbing her chain and forcing her to look him in the eye. "Very good my dear, and what do we do to unchained Fanalis who kill their betters?" He asked, a sick smile on his face he saw the fear in Fang's eyes, she wouldn't answer but she knew well enough from the times she tried to escape him.

"It's time we began to hunt for the beast responsible for this." Julius said, he had turned around but the evil smile was still present, he quickly replaced it with his usual jovial grin that he kept on to try and make people approach him more often " _Mother always did say that I was an imp._ " He thought to himself before running a hand down the hilt of his blade, somewhat eager to get a taste of blood.

Altair sat in the back of a wagon that Lucia had hired to take them to the town closest to the Dungeon, his eyes closed as he relaxed for the first time in a few days and the familiar smell of his homeland hit his nostrils again. He was aware of Argyle looking at him from time to time and Lucia's barely contained excitement at the new landscape. Altair found it to be amusing

" _Altair, you are aware that Argyle suspects you did more than sleep the other night yes?_ " Shiva asked, breaking Altairs inner quiet for a moment.

Altair kept his physical face as it was and made the Djinn aware of his displeasure at the idea of even talking about the other night. " _I am fully aware of him glaring daggers at me, I'll talk to him later when Lucia isn't around._ " Altair replied, already trying to think of what he would say to the old man.

" _Very well, should you fail to speak with him however I will scold you until you do so._ " Shiva replied, her tone of voice seemed resigned and she also let her disapproval of Altair's choice be known to him. Altair scowled as he realized that someone was poking him with something, as he opened his eyes he saw that Lucia had taken to poking him im the side with her staff, trying to wake him up from his own little nap.

"What?" He asked, feigning a tired look on his face and Lucia nearly jabbed him in the side. "This is your homeland is it not?" Lucia asked, her face looking serious with the question. "Yes, I was born here and I was taken from here to your homeland by slavers." Altair replied curtly, turning his head to look out at the back of the wagon. Trying to remember which part of the continent he lived in for the majority of his life, and failing to remember.

"Is the rest of the continent similar to this part?" Lucia asked, already taking out a quill and some parchment, intent on getting as much information out of Altair as she could. "I remember there being river deltas and some swamplands further south of where my tribe lived but aside from the giant rift keeping most people form reaching the other side of the continent i'm not entirely sure myself." Altair replied, already settling in for a few hours worth of questions.

"What's the culture of your people like?" Lucia asked after a few dozen question and explanations from Altair about the local plant and animal life, and terrain. "Before your people came and took most of us overseas to be sold into slavery? We never built kingdoms from what my father told me and overall strength proved to be the main factor in how much respect you had, at least in my tribe." Altair replied,surprised by the fact that he wasn't feeling anything for the lost at the moment.

"So, what are the chances of us meeting a tribe of Fanalis during our time here?" Lucia asked, Altair's eyes narrowed at the question before he answered "Abysmal, you're people hunted most is not all of us and either enslaved us or killed us, the Fanalis for all the name means at this point are no longer a free people as far as I am aware." Altair leaned his head against the side of the cart and closed his eyes, he was done answering questions for now.

Fang walked into the tavern with her master, the chains on her feet clinking as she moved and drawing the attention of several patrons, she heard their conversation and picked out the obvious words that would come from slavers who saw one of her kind. Words of greed and desire for the most part, but a few who spoke of pity for the woman before them.

"Been a while Julius, what can I do for you?" The man behind the bar asked her master, Fang kept her eyes cast down at the ground and her mouth shut while her master did the talking.

"I'm searching for the mongrel who murdered my first mate, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" The man put away a bottle of rum he had in his hand before leaning on the bar and whispering to her master, Fang could hear them however given how loud his whisper was through all the people talking. "Yeah, your man was here last night, drinking as usual when he decided to hand a note off to a boy and then leave, another guy followed him out I figured that he picked a fight or something." The man leaned up while her master rubbed his chin.

"You wouldn't happen to have gotten a good look at this fellow would you?" Her master asked, the same smile he had when beating unruly slaves on his face. Fang felt a chill go down her spine at the thought of being forced to hold heavy rocks for days on end once more. "He was fairly tall, carried a blade with him when he first arrived and had some odd colored hair on top of that, similar to that girl you brought in actually." The man said, pointing at Fang. "Well, his was darker than hers anyway." He added noting Fangs bright red hair.

Fang was caught off guard by her masters laughter "So then, it would seem that you were right after all my dear." her master said after his laughter stopped and he left the tavern and a bag of coins with the man in charge. "You praise is kind master." Fang said quietly, herm aster turned around and grabbed her chin, making her look into his eyes. "What would you say to having another Fanalis to be with?" her master asked, Fang noticed the gleam in his eyes, the same he always had when he came up with a scheme to make more money for himself.

"I think that would be wonderful master." Fang said, she wasn't sure what he meant but another Fanalis to talk to wouldn't be so bad. "Good my dear. Now lets gather the men, it's time to go on a hunt." her master said, that smile that gave her chills already back on his face.

 **Been a while since I worked on this, trying to balance work and other thing IRL, hopefully in the next week or so I can get more done to progress this part of the story.**


End file.
